"What are we going to do now?", Lou Tian asked.
They worked together to climb to Chen Zhen's feet and placed his back to the tree that they used help him stand.
Shanggu Feng didn't have an idea either. They could barely control Chen Zhen's body. It became easier the more they worked together to do so, but they were a long way from being able fight these spirit beast.
Lou Tian could barely cycle his energy thru Chen Zhen's body. It became a little easier the more cycles he did but this process was excruciatingly slow.
One of the Shadow Wolves lunged at Chen Zhen. Shanggu Feng and Lout Tian dodge in time so they just let his body fall to the ground. They tried rolling away from the wolf but ended up getting swatted but its huge paw. Chen Zhen's body flew thru the air like a ragdoll, slamming into a nearby tree. Cracking sounds could be heard coming from his body as some of his bones broke. It was a good thing Chen Zhen was already out cold or he would have pa.s.sed out from the pain.
"We need to do something soon or we are all going to die! Why hasn't your Ancestor's battle puppet come to protect him yet?", Lou Tian asked in exasperation.
"I don't know, maybe it has to do with the fact that we are controlling his body. Technically we should be strong enough to protect him, but we are failing miserably at doing so. I'm trying to wrack my brain to find a solution, but I'm coming up blank.", Shanggu Feng said hopelessly.
[You guys have not been working completely together. You each still look at yourselves individually, but now you are two part of a complete whole. Unless you can be of one mind you will never be able to save Chen Zhen. Stop fighting it and just be one. Remember you are stronger together then apart.]
"Who said that? What do you mean 'Be one'? Can you explain yourself better?", Lou Tian asked, "What do you think it means Shanggu Feng?"
"I have no idea. We have been trying to work together, haven't we? What can we do better than what we already have?", Shanggu Feng asked perplexed.
The Shadow Wolf that was attacking Chen Zhen was standing directly over him getting ready tear his throat open.
At this moment Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian screamed at the same time, "NNNNOOOOO!!"
Chen Zhen's body opened its eyes and its mouth as they shouted. The voice coming out of it sounded nothing like Chen Zhen's voice. It sounded like two different people yelling no at the same time. They also both instinctively punched forward at the Shadow Wolf hovering over Chen Zhen's body. The Shadow Wolf was launched straight up into the air. As everyone looked that Shadow Wolf became a black dot that disappeared above the clouds.
Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian sudden felt all resistance disappear in front of them. Their power flowed freely into Chen Zhen's body. His body was tough, but it wasn't strong enough to handle all of their strength. As they stood up in Chen Zhen's body, his left eye was purple and emitted lightening, while the right eye was releasing fire from it. The power level of Chen Zhen's body kept rising and rising. The rest of the Shadow Wolves started to feel fear. The rest of the spirit beast that were still making their way over stopped in their tracks and began to back away. The energy that Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian could emit together in Chen Zhen's body without hurting him was around level 5 of the liquid core stage. This was a mere pittance to their former strength, but it was enough to get the spirit beast to run away. While they were still in this state they collected the body of the Blood Lion, then ran back toward the clearing.
They made it half the way back before their mind set changed. They weren't in that exact state of mind anymore. They began to look at themselves as individuals instead of one whole again. Chen Zhen's body moved awkwardly, then stumbled and fell. They were back to fumbling along again. The fast mode they could achieve was crawling on Chen Zhen's hands and knees. By the time they reached to the clearing they could at least walk upright. They walked straight to Mei Ling's shack and knocked on the door. As soon as Mei Ling answered the door they released control of Chen Zhen's body and he collapsed at her feet. Mei Ling knelt down to check his body. When she felt the many broken bones in his body, Mei Ling shook her head. She was beginning to feel that taking care of Chen Zhen was turning into a full-time job.
Mei Ling bent down and lifted Chen Zhen onto her shoulder. Even though she wasn't a cultivator, but because of all the spirit beast meat she had eaten over the years, Mei Ling was as strong as a level 3 body refinement cultivator. She carried Chen Zhen to his shack and applied the medicinal ointment to his body again. She soon had him bandaged up and sleeping peacefully in his bed.
The next morning When Chen Zhen woke up he was very confused as to where he was. After looking around he realized he was in his room, lying in bed. Then last thing he remembered was fighting the Blood Lion. As he thought back, he began to remember more of the fight. The last thing he saw before falling unconscious was the headless Blood Lion. Chen Zhen jumped up excited about being able to kill such a strong spirit beast. But his excitement soon died down due to his curiosity. How did he end up back home?
"Hey, do you guys know what happened after I pa.s.sed out yesterday?", Chen Zhen asked Shanggu Feng, and Lou Tian.
But no one answered.
[They are very tired. They used a lot of spirit energy controlling your body to get you home safely.], the clone explained.
"Really? They can do that?", Chen Zhen was confused, he didn't know that was possible.
[Apparently it only works when your are no longer in control of your body. Plus the fact that you use the same energy on each side of your body every time. So it allows them to use their spirit energy that corresponds to that side to control you with much difficulty. I tried to give them a clue to help them, but it only worked for a little bit. They did save your life though, so when they wake up it will be good to show them a little grat.i.tude.]
"How long will it take them to wake up?"
[It shouldn't take long. I've been cultivating all night, so they have replenished most of the energy they used up. If you guys ever learn to really become one then you will experience a power level you have never imagined. Till then you will just to keep getting stronger faster.]
"I'm working has hard as I can."
[I know you are. This process can't be rushed. You have to take it one step at a time. The more I study this world the more I understand what cultivation actually is. Think of yourself as a nuclear reactor. Unless you set up all the fail safes, and security systems, and make sure all of the safety precautions have been met, you would never start a nuclear reactor up. Being in the body refinement stage you are creating all of those precautions in your body. As soon as they are all set your body is ready to fire up its reactor and produce limitless amounts of energy. In the later stages of cultivation you will have power levels that rival a star. This is the type of power you will be able to control.]
As Chen Zhen listened to the clone he sat there pondering what the future would hold for him. Is his family safe, are they getting along well? What will become of him when he returns to his world, would he be able to keep these amazing abilities? How long will it take him to return home? These question plagued his mind as he sat down to cultivate.